LG International Kicks off Cement Production in Myanmar

September 12, 2017 09:12|09 13, 2017 17:06

LG International Corp., Korea's leading general trading company, is set to kick off the operation of a cement factory in Myanmar for which it has invested for two years. This is part of the company's strategy to preempt the rapidly growing Myanmar market by becoming the first general trading firm to build a cement plant in the Southeast Asian nation.

According to industry sources on September 11, LG International is currently making a pilot run of the cement plant in the erstwhile reclusive country. Back in 2015, the company jumped into the cement market for the first time among the nation's general trading companies. To this end, it spent 45 billion won to take a 51-percent stake in the Myanmar's cement manufacturer. The plant is now a 51:49 joint venture with the local partner Blue Diamond.

Myanmar is one of the world's few promosing underdeveloped markets. The country's economic growth rate this year is expected to reach 7.7 percent. Even though its growth rate has somewhat slowed since 2013 after peaking at 8.4 percent, it is likely to move back to more than 8 percent next year as emerging markets are revived due to the rapid recovery of the global economy.

As the Myanmar government is expanding its infrastructure projects, the demand for cement will also rise fast. Given the government's commitment to reform and market opening, as well as the lack of basic infrastructures such as electricity grids, roads, telecommunications, and ports, the demand for large-scale public works projects is very high.